


Please Stop Giggling

by Wocalich



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien-is-an-embarrassed-mess, Everyone-is-embarrassed, Except-Alya, F/M, She's-loving-this, i'm-posing-naked-in-your-art-class-please-stop-giggling-what-are-you-giggling-at-AU, marinette-too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-10-07 20:04:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17372408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wocalich/pseuds/Wocalich
Summary: Adrien Agreste was a model.He was used to the commands to do this and that, the stares, the whispering.He was an experienced model.But none of his experience could have prepared him for this.For Marinette giggling while she drew his-almost-naked body.Please stop giggling what are you giggling at.





	1. Chapter 1

"No. Alya! no wait-"

Adrien stopped listening to Nino talk about a new DJ he had found who was  _so cool dude_ and turned to the source of the new voice.

It was Marinette.

Who had stopped talking now that they had made eye contact but was still pulling on the sleeve of her friend Alya.

Who was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

_Excuse me-ow, that's a Chat Noir™ look thank you very much._

"Hey,Adrien!"

Marinette whined softly.

"Hey,Alya!" Adrien smiled softly.

He had a reputation to upkeep after all. It didn't matter how confused he was, soft smile it was.

"You know how Marinette takes art classes this year, right?"

"Yeah."

Marinette dreamed of being a designer so she had started taking art classes instead of waiting for college to start.

"So." Marinette was pulling on Alya even more strongly now, "Apparently the nude model they had planned on drawing-Marinette, you're stretching my sweater-",which she was,"- today got sick so they need a new one."

Marinette stopped pulling on Alya and buried her face in her hands.

"Okay."

It was a confirmation that was more of a question.

"So I thought you could do it. If you're free, of course."

"You want me to be a  _nu_ -"

"A nude model,yeah. Don't worry, you won't be completely nude. There will be a cloth covering your private parts."

Adrien gulped.

"No good? No good, right? Of course it's no good. Come on Alya, let's go-"

"Wait."

Adrien stopped them with an outstretched hand.

Which was trembling just a bit.

"I, uh..."

Nude model.

"I..."

 _Nude_ model.

Now they were the ones looking confused.

But being asked for help was rare. He felt like his friends were usually walking on egg shells around him. He wanted to treasure this.

He wanted to help his friend.

He swallowed his nervousness.

"I'll do it."

"You will?" they asked at the same time with opposite levels of enthusiasm.

"Yeah. Why not. How hard could it be, right?"

"Alright! Marinette will take you to class after school then." she decided and pulled a stumbling Marinette away.

Adrien and Nino, who had been silent this whole time, watched them walk away.

"Dude."

"I know."

" _Dude._ "

Adrien groaned and Nino started laughing.

"Shut up." Adrien laughed with him. His friend's positive attitude had taken away some of his nervousness and he felt more confident now.

Really.

How hard could it be?

He was a model after all.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He didn't have the time to find out.

After school they went to the class, true.

Marinette showed him to the changing room and he changed into his piece of cloth as well.

But.

Just when he finally gathered his courage to go into the waiting class,

"I'm Fangirl and I _won't_ let you look at  _my Adrien_ naked!", an akuma came and kidnapped him right out of there.

Or so he believed.

Because Fangirl had screamed and made everyone faint, including him, and now he was somewhere he didn't know with only his precious cloth on his person.

Leaving Plagg behind.

Oh no.

He wrapped his cloth around his hips more securely as Fangirl gushed at him and waited for Ladybug to come.

Quickly.

_Please._

 

* * *

 

 

"Come on Marinette, we need to go."

Tikki was urging Marinette while she looked through the changing room.

"Wait,Tikki. Let me find Adrien's stuff first. He's-"

She stopped and whispered the rest, " _he's naked._ "

Marinette finally found Adrien's stuff and put Adrien's clothes, perhaps a little too forcefully in her hurry, into his bag and-

"Me-ouch!"

Silence.

"What was that?" Marinette whispered, looking at Adrien's bag like it had come alive because  _how else could a bag make noises?_

Tikki seemed like she knew what was going on and,

"Come on Marinette! You found the bag, let's go!"

And she was trying to distract her?

Marinette took a look at Tikki and dug out the contents of the bag- which included a certain black kwami.

Her eyes grew big as she took in the cat-like kwami that was clearly Chat Noir's kwami.

What.

_What._

WHAT-

This was Chat Noir's kwami in Adrien's bag and Adrien was Chat Noir and-

"Marinette!"

And there was no time.

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette exclaimed, coming out of her shock.

After she transformed she put Adrien's stuff back in his bag, put on the bag and called out to the kwami,

"Come on, we need Chat Noir."

"I'm Plagg, by the way." Plagg muttered.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Marinette." she held out a finger which Plagg shook.

"Let's go get Chat Noir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is.  
> My first fanfic.  
> I was looking for a prompt on tumblr and found this AU but never expected this to come out of it.  
> But, well. No complaints here.
> 
> Please leave comment and let me hear what you think! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien was in a room full of pictures of him but his attention wasn't on that right now.

"Oh, Adrien.I wanted to talk to you like this for _so long-"_

He ran to the door and tried the handle.

"Oh, the door is locked, didn't I do great?"

He turned his back to the door and focused on her.

She didn't seem to notice his defensive state,"Anyways-Do you remember me? You had signed my t-shirt," she pointed to her shirt, which was more of an armour covering her from head to toe now in her akumatized state,but the sign was unmistakable,"of course you remember-what?" she stopped her gushing.

"Yes, I know. But can't I talk to Adrien a bit longer first?" Fangirl whined.

And then sighed.

"Okay. Okay, fine I get i- I get it! Geez!"

She turned to Adrien, "Adrien, I need to go do something real quick so wait for me here okay? <3"

She walked to the window and jumped out of it, landing safely thanks to her shirt-armour.

"Adrien~!Stay in there! <3" she waved to Adrien, who was looking at her from her window, and disappeared around the corner.

Adrien didn't  _stay._

He ran to the door immediately and started pounding on it with one hand,

"Hello?! I'm locked in here!", he kept pounding, "Please open the door!"

But there was no response.

"I guess, her parents are at work." he laughed humourlessly and started looking around for something to open the door with.

There was nothing.

He was starting to panic when,

_Swoosh!_

When Ladybug came into the room through the window.

With his bag he noticed happily.

And he was still naked, he noticed unhappily.

He turned so red he was stupidly confident he could compete with the red of her costume.

Or her skin, really.

Because Ladybug was no less red than he and she was avoiding looking at him and he was still naked so he fumbled for his clothes right away when she gave him his bag.

"Th-thank you. I-I guess you can go now. I'll be right out after I, you know." he pointed to his clothes.

But she wasn't leaving.

_Why wasn't she leaving?_

"You-uh-you don't need to wait for me. I-the door is locked but I can," his eyes caught a pencil and he held it out to her," I can do something with this."

He didn't know what that something was but still.

_Was it too much to ask for privacy when you were naked?_

Ladybug was toeing the floor and, thankfully, still avoiding looking at him.

"I..." she started, accidentally looked at him for a moment and turned her eyes back to the ground right away, "I-I know."

What did she know?

Wait-

Plagg wasn't in here.

He was- he was behind Ladybug.

"What do you know?" he asked nervously.

"I know you're Chat Noir."

What-

Oh.

His bag.

That Plagg had been in.

He glanced at Plagg, who said "hey" nervously.

Which he should be. Their identities were supposed to be secret!

But, "W-well. I guess there's no time to bother with clothes then."

"Plagg, claws out!"

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The fight itself went swimmingly.

Ladybug called out "Lucky Charm!" and used the earplugs she got to protect herself from Fangirl's voice as she attracted her attention and Chat Noir, who came up behind Fangirl with the silence of a cat, destroyed the armour with a "Catacylism!"

Well.

At the last moment Fangirl noticed him and screamed with surprise, which made him faint again but his hand found the target so he counted it a win.

After he woke up.

He was back in the changing room now with the cloth draped over his hips and Marinette was shaking him awake.

"Adrien.Adrien? Are you okay?"

"Wu-What?" he mumbled and tried to stand up.

Which Marinette didn't let him do because-oh.

Right.

He was naked again.

He turned red and muttered, "Thanks, I'm fine."

Now that he was awake, Marinette pulled away and stuttered, "I-I'm glad. Y-you weren't here when we w-woke up so we were w-worried. B-but it seems like she got caught."

"Y-yeah, I-I mean, I see. W-well, are we still doing the class?"

He hoped not because he had been publicly naked enough for a lifetime.

"I-it got late so the teacher said we would do it tomorrow. I-is that okay?"

"Yeah!", he cleared his throat and muttered, "I-I mean, yeah it's okay."

 _I guess it's too much to ask for the actual nude model to get better in a day_ , he thought to himself.

 _Well_ , he looked at Marinette who was avoiding eye contact,  _he still wanted to help his friend so he guessed he would suck it up._

"I'll be back tomorrow then." he smiled.

"Y-you will?" Marinette looked at him hopefully for a moment and then her eyes shied away once again.

"Yeah." he confirmed.

"For now," he cleared his throat, which was drier than ever today, and continued," for now, will you please go out so I can change into my clothes?"

Marinette jumped.

"Y-yeah! Of course! S-sorry! Ow!" she stumbled out of the room hitting something in the air on her way out and closing the door behind her loudly.

Adrien released a deep breath.

Now, where were his clothes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the second chapter. Thank you for all the comments,and the kudos, on the first one, it was so fun to read them! :)  
> I don't know where I'm going with this story lol but we're gonna find out together :D


	3. Chapter 3

_Please stop giggling_ , Adrien thought to Marinette while doing his best to maintain the pose their teacher had put him in.

 _What was she giggling at_ _?_ He didn't understand.

Where was the nervousness from yesterday?

Clearly she had gotten over it because since this morning Marinette had been like a different person.

She had greeted him with no stutter, talked to him during breaks and lunch and on the way to class and these were all good developments.

_But._

This was something else.

They made eye contact for a second and Marinette returned to her drawing with a giggle.

His already red face turned even redder.

What was she even  _drawing_?

Was she taking this seriously?

He hoped she was because he hadn't accepted to do this to become the butt end of a joke.

He frowned at her.

She smiled placatingly and he relaxed for a moment, thinking this torture was over, but then she returned to her work.

And let out a giggle.

 _Really_!

"Adrien." the teacher called, " We'll take a break in a moment so please stop moving."

The whole class joined in on the giggling.

 _Oh, for the love of_...

He cleared his dry throat and returned to maintaining his pose, trying to shut Marinette out.

_What was going on?!_

It was one of the hardest things he had ever done to sit still for that entire session.

After it was over he quickly put on his clothes and chased after Marinette, who was leaving.

"Marinette!" he called out to her while running.

Marinette stopped and turned to look at him, waiting for him to reach her.

He reached her and took a deep breath, suddenly nervous.

Marinette looked at him imploringly,

"Adrien? What's wrong?"

"Today..."

"Yes?"

"Uh...Today, what were you giggling at?"

"Giggling?" she asked, but it was clear she knew what he was talking about from the face she was making.

"Yes!" he said with a sudden fervor and when some people stopped to look at them he continued more quietly,

"Yes. You were giggling during the whole session."

"Oh." Marinette _grinned_ , "You mean  _that._ "

He glared at her, feeling embarrassed all over again.

"Yes! That! It was really distracting you know?!"

"Sorry." she said with a smile.

"I just-" she giggled," I was just thinking of something."

Now he was curious.

"What were you thinking of?"

"Of what Chat Noir would do if he was in your place."

He froze.

"Th-that's quite a strange thing to think of." he laughed nervously, "He would just pose, of course."

"Yes, but he would flex the whole time, making everyone laugh with his ridiculousness."

"Ridi- _ridiculous_?"

"Yes."

She  _booped his nose_ with a finger,

"Absolutely ridiculous."

Adrien stared at her with his eyes blown wide and she giggled again at his reaction.

_Adrien was so confused._

Marinette really was like a different person today.

She was- _she was behaving like his lady_.

When Adrien stayed quiet Marinette decided it was time.

"Okay then. I guess I'll see you again tomorrow?"

Tomorrow was the beginning of the weekend so it was obvious what she was asking about.

"Yeah-" Adrien shook himself, "yeah, of course my la- MARINETTE. Of course, Marinette."

He pumped a fist,

"I don't leave things halfway. I'll keep it up until your original model gets better."

"Thank you." Marinette smiled.

And then giggled with a mischiveous glint in her eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah! Tomorrow..."

Marinette waved and left, Adrien watching her the whole time with an awkward wave that didn't stop until she disappeared around the corner.

A snicker.

"Okay. You?" Adrien poked his shirt pocket, "Shut up. I've been the victim of enough laughing today for a lifetime."

He was beginning to regret this.

"Hopefully it will be better tomorrow." he sighed.

Again, a snicker.

Again, a poke.

And Adrien went home, taking a cold shower as soon as he got there, needing to cool himself off.

This high a body temperature couldn't be healthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in two days! I'm on a roll, baby *dances excitedly*
> 
> But I didn't think there would be such a big response. Thank you to each and everyone of you for taking the time to read this work. I hope you continue to like it :)
> 
> Also. That's so much giggling. Geez.
> 
> But no, Adrien. Marinette can't stop, won't stop ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Chat Noir was having a blast.

They had just caught a particularly difficult akuma and the rush of it was running through his veins, making him even more ridiculous than usual as he posed for their audience, making them laugh.

Ladybug was laughing at his antics as well and the sound of it was music to his ears.

She laughed one last time and raised a fist with a smile on her face.

Chat Noir grinned back and,

"Pound it!"

They bumped fists.

But then everything changed.

They weren't in the streets of Paris anymore.

Their audience was nowhere to be found.

They were in the art classroom and, smiling as she pulled back her fist, it was Marinette looking back at him.

And his costume was nowhere to be found.

He was Adrien and he was  _naked_ as Marinette meandered to her seat and sat, crossing her legs.

She giggled as she looked at him and pulled her sketchbook out of thin air.

"What's wrong, kitty?" she asked with a smile, her pencil at the ready to resume work,

"Cat got your tongue?"

Adrien was so surprised he actually woke up with a jolt, making Plagg wake up as well.

Plagg grumbled and got up with an offended twitch to his tail, moved away from Adrien and flopped back down to sleep.

Adrien took deep breaths as he thought back to his dream where he lay.

It had to be because of what Marinette had said during the day.

But that didn't explain why his subconscious had thought it a good idea to merge Ladybug and Marinette together.

Why?

They certainly had similarities, especially after Marinette's change in attitude, but they were obviously different people.

_Weren't they?_

He hummed.

The kitty had gotten curious and he wasn't going to let this mystery go until it was solved.

He resolved to get to the bottom of this.

But, before that, he needed to sleep more.

It was still night after all.

He tossed and turned, trying to go back to sleep but he was full of nervous energy.

So he got up and washed his face.

When that wasn't enough, he went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

He was filling his glass again when,

"Couldn't sleep?"

Adrien jumped to look at the source of the voice.

It was his father.

"Yes, sir." he mumbled as he turned back to his glass.

His father hummed.

Adrien had thought his father would leave then but, instead, he got himself a glass as well and held his hand out for the bottle.

Adrien fumbled to give it to his father.

He was silent as he filled his glass and Adrien sipped nervously, feeling like he should say something but not knowing what.

"Was there a reason why?"

"Eh-uh-" Adrien jumped,

"I just had a dream, father."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I..." Adrien played with his glass nervously, "I-uh...it was nothing unusual, father. The usual stuff."

"The usual stuff..." his father hummed.

"Yea-yes, sir."

Adrien was fidgeting in place.

"Well then." his father finished his drink and set the glass down,

"Good night." he put a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"G-good night." Adrien stuttered.

Gabriel Agreste left and it only occurred to Adrien then that maybe his father couldn't sleep as well.

Or maybe he just hadn't tried to, working on one of his projects late into the night.

His father worked so much.

Too much, in his opinion.

Adrien hoped he was okay.

He looked into his glass of water like he could find answers there.

Maybe he should try and spend time with him.

_Again._

_No_ , he shook his head and downed his water,  _he wasn't going to get discouraged._

He took a deep breath.

Even the thought was scary.

 _But_ , he thought,  _he should give it a try._

They were, no matter how dysfunctional, still a family.

And families were worth a try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be brave, Adrien.
> 
> And behave yourself, Gabriel Agreste. Don't make our kitty sad.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the updates, I was going through the chapters and fixing errors such as spelling and grammar.  
> And also I changed Adrien's "until you-and your class- finish your drawings" to "until your original model gets better". Because I looked up life drawing and it seems sessions are done in more of a daily base, going through poses for a few hours.  
> Also, I hope you like this chapter Lennves ;)

Today's Adrien Agreste was different from before.

He  _would_ be different from before.

He was a  _model_ for goodness' sake!

Sure, modelling nude was  _very much_ out of his comfort zone but he could take it.

He was a professional.

And anyways, if he was going to solve the Ladybug-Marinette mystery he would need to be calm and collected.

Not embarrassed and freaking out.

So.

Today's Adrien Agreste was different.

He was Chat Noir, in spirit only of course, as he changed out of his clothes and entered the art class with a swagger an almost naked teenager shouldn't be able to possess.

He greeted the students and the teacher and took his place.

And he showed off.

He showed off his physique, which was well taken care of thank you very much, in this pose and that.

He joked around during breaks and made everyone laugh at his antics.

He was Chat Noir out of the suit.

While all this was going on Marinette watched with a mischiveous smile on her face.

Laughed at his antics and rolled her eyes in good humour when he suggested a particularly ridiculous pose.

Met his eyes with confidence when they made eye contact, challenging each other to be the first to look away.

It was  _fun_ , Chat Noi-Adrien decided.

This was fun.

 

* * *

 

 

He chased after Marinette again after it was over.

Seeing how Marinette had reacted to his behaviour today had been almost enough to convince him that she was his lady.

_Almost_.

So he ran after her to try and pry her maybe-secret out of her.

"Marinette?" he asked as they walked side by side.

"Yeah?" she smiled at her.

"Why,uh,why did you call me kitty yesterday?"

She looked at him with confused eyes,

"I didn't, though?"

Oh. Right.

That had been in his dream.

Stupid Adrien.

He turned red as he muttered,

"Nevermind..."

Silence.

"I,uh-"

He turned to look at her, and jumped and looked down when they made eye contact,

"I need to go. There is a shoot today."

No, there wasn't.

Still silence.

As seconds ticked away with no inclination from Marinette that she had heard, Adrien finally couldn't take it anymore.

He looked at her.

And found her watching him with a fond smile on her face.

Which, for some reason, made him blush even more.

"Adrien..."

Adrien looked back down and toed the ground.

A giggle.

"Maybe I  _should_ call you kitty. What do you think?"

He was surprised.

"I, uh..."

He should refuse. It was his lady's nickname for him.

But with that smile on her face she just looked so much like her that,

"Okay." he blurted.

Her smile grew wider.

He was going to die.

"Okay then. See you on Monday, kitty." she winked and left him standing there as she meandered away-most likely to the bakery.

He watched her go as he had done yesterday, feeling so many emotions at once that if someone had looked at him at that moment, they wouldn't be able to understand what he was thinking.

_He_ didn't understand what he was thinking.

_What was he thinking?!_

That was his lady's nickname for him!

He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

This was all so confusing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ don't mind me, just trying to see if adding an end note fixes the problem(which is the end note of first chapter appearing on this chapter).


	6. Chapter 6

His father was waiting for him when he went home and he looked very much not happy.

"Where were you today?"

"I,uh...I was modelling, father."

His father raised an eyebrow,

"Modelling? I don't believe you had any photoshoots today."

He glanced at Nathalie, the question in his eyes obvious.

"No, sir. There were no photoshoots today."

His father looked at him, waiting for him to go on.

"I...I was modelling at an art class, sir."

"Art class?"

"Yes, sir."

Adrien tried to gulp, not quite managing to from how dry his throat had gotten. 

"And the reason is?"

"I-I'm helping a friend, sir. Th-their model got sick and-" Adrien was speaking faster and faster, trying to convince his father that this was a good idea before he refused to let him, "they asked me if I could do it, since I am a model."

Silence.

"I-it's only until their model gets better, sir. Then I'll stop."

He made eye contact with his father for a second and looked back down to the floor.

He could feel his father's disapproval from across the room.

He knew how his father felt about  _friends_.

"Who is this... _friend_...you're helping?"

"Ma-Marinette Dupain-Cheng, sir."

"The girl from the hat competition..." his father hummed.

"Yes, sir."

"And when do these-Adrien, stop fidgeting-classes take place?"

"Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, sir."

Gabriel Agreste thought for a minute that felt like an eternity.

"Okay."

"O-okay?" Adrien squeaked.

"Yes. I believe it wouldn't hurt to gain modelling experience where you can, especially when the decision comes from you. Nathalie, add the art classes to his schedule."

"Yes, sir." Nathalie said, scribbling away at her notes.

Adrien couldn't believe this was happening.

"Thank you, father." he said and went to go up to his room when,

"Adrien."

He turned to look at his father, one hand on the banister.

"Yes, sir?"

He hoped his father hadn't changed his mind.

"Do you like modelling?"

Nathalie and Adrien looked at Gabriel with surprise, Nathalie quickly looking back down to her notes and going back to pretending to be air.

"Eh-whu-sir?"

"I asked if you like modelling, Adrien. Stop stuttering."

"I..."

Adrien took a deep breath and thought about how to answer.

He had never thought about it.

He did remember feeling happy when he went to a photoshoot with his  _daddy_ but modelling was just modelling now.

It was just something he did because he was told to.

He liked showing off, yes, especially when his lady was around to see it, but that was it.

His father was waiting.

Adrien shook his head.

"I've never thought about it." he replied at last,

"It's just something that's been there my whole life."

"...I see..."

His father was suddenly thoughtful.

Then he seemed to snap out of it.

"Go to your room and wash up. It's time for dinner."

 

 

* * *

 

Adrien did as he was told.

He thought maybe this time he would be able to eat with his father but there was only one plate prepared on the table.

Nathalie told him that his father was working on one of his projects, leaving Adrien to have his dinner alone.

_Again._

How was he supposed to spend time with his father if he was never given time to just  _ask?_

Normally he would feel very sad about this but tonight there was a patrol.

And he was going to see his lady for the first time since her finding out his identity.

He couldn't wait.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh~? Are we going to have some ladynoir in the next chapter? :D


	7. Chapter 7

It was a beautiful night of full moon.

It was a quiet night and they were quiet as well as they swung and ran along their usual route through Paris.

It was so late that most of the city was asleep, only a few stragglers peppering the streets.

Chat Noir thought to what had happened when they met up.

Ladybug had acted as usual, maybe even a little flirty.

Chat Noir had flirted back, his heart dancing with happiness.

But then she had called him  _kitty_ and...

And the guilt that brought on was unbearable.

Because that nickname didn't belong only to her anymore.

He had let Marinette call him that as well.

It wasn't right.

And what was even more  _not right_ was that he didn't want to take it back.

He _wanted_ Marinette to call him kitty.

"What's wrong, Chat?" Ladybug had asked.

He hadn't known how to answer.

So they were quiet, Ladybug glancing at him from time to time, her silent question hanging around them.

He was ashamed.

 

* * *

 

 

"Chat..."

Ladybug stopped him from leaving, still silent, when their patrol was over.

He turned to her and cleared his dry throat,

"Yes, my lady?"

Did he even deserve to call her that anymore?

"What's wrong?" she asked again and he still didn't know how to answer.

"I...I'm sorry." he said at last.

Ladybug was confused.

"You're sorry? Why?"

"...I let someone else call me kitty." he muttered.

It sounded like a weird reason to be sorry for when said out loud like this but it wasn't weird.

Not when nicknames had been all they had for over a year.

They were personal.

Special.

And he had betrayed that.

Ladybug didn't find it weird either.

"...Who?" was all she asked, her voice tight.

Chat couldn't look at her.

"A girl in my class called Marinette..."

"Oh."

Ladybug was silent and he was as afraid of the silence as what would happen when that silence broke.

He chanced a glance at her.

She looked... thoughtful?

And then she took a deep breath like she had made a big decision,

"Adrien, I'm Marinette."

His eyes grew wide.

"Whu- what? You- _what??_ _"_

"It's true." she whispered.

Now he was the one feeling betrayed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He  _had_ suspected it but he had never thought it would actually be the case.

He had assumed Ladybug was someone he didn't know.

Had assumed his lady would tell him otherwise.

Had assumed she wouldn't  _leave him in the dark like this._

_Well,_ he thought bitterly,  _looks like the saying about assuming isn't for nothing after all._

He almost left then, without waiting for her reply but Ladybug- _Marinette_ \- didn't let him.

She held onto him and no matter how upset he was he could never push her away so he let her.

"Please." she begged, "Please, listen to me. I-I was scared. I was scared you would be disappointed if you found out."

That was the most ridiculous excuse he had ever had the misfortune of hearing.

"Why would I be disappointed? It's  _you._ I would never be disappointed to find out you're Marinette."

"I...I'm just so clumsy and ordinary and I couldn't even talk to you before I found out you're Chat Noir."

Her fingers were digging into his arm in her desperation to make him  _understand._

He didn't feel the pain.

He didn't care about that right now.

"I'm nothing like Ladybug when I'm Marinette. I was scared..." she whispered.

She was silent now but she was still holding onto him, her head hung low but still not letting him go.

He gulped as he looked at her, trying to sort through his feelings.

Was her excuse enough?

No, it _wasn't_.

But this was his lady and she was so upset and sorry and he couldn't let her be.

"I don't know how I feel about this." he said at last.

"But, for now, I accept your apology."

Tears burst from Ladybug's eyes,

"Thank you. Thank you, Chat." she cried, still holding onto him, her tears flowing freely.

He sighed and wiped her eyes with the side of one finger, careful of his claws.

"Please don't cry, my lady. I hate it when you cry."

She tried to smile and, just like that, he forgave her.

Yes, he was easy.

He would always be easy when it came to her.

"Now, will you please let me go? My arm hurts."

"Oh. Sorry." she laughed nervously and let him go, wiping her eyes and sniffling.

It was a quiet night.

There was no one around to see as Chat Noir and Ladybug, as Adrien and Marinette, smiled at each other with the full moon washing over them their only witness.

It was a beautiful night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost left this chapter with them fighting but I hate angst so that was a no.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, I'm not confident with emotional scenes *laughs nervously*
> 
> PS: The note about this being my first fanfic is supposed to be only on the first chapter but I don't know how to fix it so please ignore it ahaha :')


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep.

He was angry that Ladybug hadn't told him that she was Marinette.

Yes, he had forgiven her.

He  _had._

But that didn't mean all his anger had disappeared.

She had _left him in the dark_ while she-

While she  _giggled at him_ as he-

Oh my god Ladybug had seen him -almost-naked, more than once.

And had  _giggled._

He-

Wow,he didn't know of an emotion strong and muddled enough to call what he was feeling at the moment.

He was-

He was feeling  _humiliated_.

How-

_How could she do this to him?!_

He took deep breaths, trying to calm down.

_Let's think this through one by one._

First.

Ladybug was Marinette.

Which, though he couldn't really feel it at the moment, he was happy about.

He had always thought Marinette was amazing, this last week even more so.

He had started feeling conflicted between Ladybug and Marinette so he was relieved that he didn't need to be so anymore.

Which brought him to her reason for not telling him- she was scared he would be disappointed.

Why?

He just couldn't make sense of it.

_Why?_

She had said she was nothing like Ladybug when she was Marinette and Adrien couldn't see how she could think that.

She was kind and confident and brave and fun and clever and cute(he blushed) and-

She was amazing.

He sighed and decided to leave this one aside for now.

Next.

She had found out he was Chat Noir and her attitude had changed.

It made sense this time, at least a bit, that she would change her attitude.

She was close to Chat after all.

Unlike when he was Adrien.

What had she said?

"I couldn't even talk to you before I found out you're Chat Noir"?

Why?

Because they weren't close?

People usually didn't have difficulty talking to people they weren't close to.

Because they didn't care how their behaviour would affect a relationship that didn't exist.

...Except when they _wanted_ to be close.

When they wanted to be _liked_.

_Marinette wanted to be liked by him?_

He thought to how she had changed.

How she had become  _flirty._

Adrien didn't dare hope.

But.

But... _what if?_

His heart banged around in his chest like it was trying to get out.

_What if?_

_..._

He opened his phone and sent Marinette his first message:

Adrien\- marinette? are you sleeping?

He waited and waited and when he was almost about to give up,

Marinette\- adrien? what happened?

He licked his lips and wrote a reply.

Adrien\- can we meet up tomorrow?

He couldn't wait until their patrol tomorrow night.

_Marinette is typing..._

_..._

_Marinette is typing..._

He waited as she wrote her reply, his whole being focused on the small phone in his hands.

Marinette\- ok

Marinette\- how about my house?

Marinette\- noon

Marinette\- we can talk comfortably here

Marinette\- and play games afterwards

Marinette\- if you like

...

Adrien\- will there be food?

He could almost hear her laugh.

Marinette\- more than you can eat

Adrien grinned.

Adrien\- dont be sure about that my lady

_A picture of a cat, its stomach growling._

_A gif of Ladybug laughing._

Adrien smiled.

Adrien\- ill see you tomorrow my lady

Marinette\- sleep tight kitty

Adrien put down his phone and lay in his bed, a goofy smile on his face.

The kitty slept tight.

And dreamed of chasing after a certain ladybug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (They exchanged numbers before going their separate ways last chapter.)
> 
> I tried to show Adrien releasing his anger as he thought, and starting to focus on the good parts, in this chapter. Hopefully I did it right.  
> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Okay, that sounds like it's over XD It's not, I'm not done with this fic.
> 
> Edit: I know I said I wasn't done but I ran into a problem. I have started writing an original work, which I hope to turn into a book, and the feeling of the characters there bleed into this work when I try to write. So it will take me longer to write the new chapter. I'll be back as soon as possible and I'm sorry.


	9. Chapter 9

Adrien's heart was in his throat as he got out of the car.

It had been really, _really_ , difficult to get permission from his father but it would be worth it.

He would make sure of that.

He walked up to the bakery and went in, his whole body trembling from the adrenaline running through his veins.

He made eye contact with Mrs, Cheng.

_Okay, Adrien. You can do this._

"Adrien! Just hang on a second."

She rang up her customer's order and after they were gone she came up from behind the counter to welcome him.

"How are you?", she put a hand on her face, "You look so thin, are you eating enough?"

He smiled nervously.

"Marinette told me you would be coming. Go on up and I will bring something to eat, okay?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Cheng." Adrien mumbled and went up to the apartment as she went back behind the counter to receive her next customer.

He met Marinette on the stairs, he going up and she going down.

"Mom, did Adrien come just now-oh. Hey."

"Hey."

"I-uh-welcome." she smiled and he returned it nervously.

"Thanks."

"Let's-uh-let's go up to my room. We can talk there."

"Sure."

They didn't talk as they went up and into her room.

She showed him to a seat and sat down herself.

"So-uh-what did you want to talk about?"

Right.

That.

_I just wanted to know if you like me._

He flushed red just thinking the question, how was he going to ask it?

He decided to go slowly.

"You know how you said you couldn't talk to me before you knew it was me? I wanted to talk about that."

"Oh. That. Wha-what part of it did you want to talk about?"

He looked down and played with his hands.

"I always thought you hated me or something-"

"Wha-no!"

Marinette cut in.

"I don't hate you! Why would you think that??"

Adrien was surprised by her outburst so he stopped playing with his hands to look up at her.

She looked confused.

Okay.

_Here it goes._

"I don't think that anymore. I-uh-actually I was thinking that maybe you like me."

Marinette's eyes grew big and he suddenly got so nervous that he didn't see how she flushed.

So nervous that he stepped back as he looked back down to his hands,

"I-I mean as friends, of course. Why would you like me like _that_ , right?"

He laughed nervously as he toed the carpet.

Silence.

"What do you mean by that?"

She sounded angry.

He looked up.

Oh, no. She looked angry as well.

"By-by what?"

"Why wouldn't I like you like that?"

His heart was beating fast and he was feeling light-headed from the adrenaline.

Was he going to faint?

"I-uh...what do you mean?" he whispered.

She glared at him, daring him to look away as she talked.

"You have fencing lessons on Friday. Your Chinese classes are on Mondays and you have basketball practice on Wednesdays. I know your whole schedule because I used to write it up on a chart. ı don't keep that chart anymore, but I have it memorized. I used to have pictures of you all over my walls and I had you as my desktop wallpaper. I didn't need you to tell me your number when we "exchanged" numbers because I already knew it. Do you know why I did all of this?"

"...Why?"

"Because I had a crush on you! I had the biggest, stupidest crush on you that borderlined obsession. And you know how I feel about you now?"

Adrien was dying.

"How?" he whispered.

"I still like you! I liked you when I didn't know you were Chat Noir and now I only like you more!"

Adrien gulped.

Marinette panted, somehow looking angry and embarrassed at the same time.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, my lady." Adrien managed to get out.

Marinette nodded firmly.

"Good."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! :D  
> I'm sorry for the long break but today I felt like I could come back to this.  
> I hope you like it :)


	10. Chapter 10

Adrien returned home in a daze.

His lady had been so angry that he hadn't found the opportunity to tell her how _he liked her too._

_Too._

_There was a too there._

He came out of his daze with a shiver of excitement and yelled,

"She likes me!"

He rolled and kicked around in his bed, squealing in a high pitched voice.

Plagg was looking at him with amusement in his eyes.

"Plagg!"

He sat up, his hair and clothes a mess, and looked at Plagg with a huge grin on his face,

"Plagg, she likes me! _My lady likes me!_ "

He flopped back down on his bed, kicking and kicking at the air.

He pressed his face into his pillow and screamed.

He just couldn't contain himself, he was so excited and-

And _happy._

A knock on the door and Plagg went out of sight.

Adrien stopped kicking around and called out happily,

"Come in!"

It was his father.

He gulped, suddenly nervous, and started picking at himself in a hurry to fix his appearance.

"Uh," he pulled down his shirt that had somehow ridden up his belly and started straightening his hair,

"Hello, sir."

Gabriel Agreste looked at his son with disapproving eyes,

"What is going on?"

He asked.

"I can hear your screaming all the way from my office."

"Oh."

_What should he say?_

_"Um._ "

His father grew confused as he uh and uhmmed, trying to find an explanation.

He couldn't tell him about how his crush was mutual.

He wouldn't approve.

The silence grew as he struggled.

His father sighed and dropped it,

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I will go back to my work now. Please try to behave like your age."

Adrien gulped and nodded,

"Yes, sir."

But then just as his father was about to leave,

"Father?"

Gabriel Agreste stopped and turned around, one hand on Adrien's door,

"Yes?"

Adrien didn't know what it was, maybe it was his lady's feelings that did it but he felt brave right now.

So he asked,

"Could we have dinner together?"

His father blinked in surprise.

"Please?"

He tried again.

It would be funny to watch how his father was caught so off-guard by his request but he was too nervous to laugh at that moment.

At last, Gabriel Agreste cleared his throat and nodded,  _nodded_ , his acceptance.

"I suppose I can do that. I will call for the meal to be prepared so," he looked Adrien up and down, "fix your appearance in the mean time."

Adrien nodded nervously, afraid to feel excited just yet.

"Yes, sir."

Gabriel nodded once again and closed the door behind him.

He didn't let Adrien see the small smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm so bad at updating this.
> 
> Adrien was so cute in this chapter that I couldn't stop grinning as I wrote. I hope you like how he kicks at the air too :)


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